Charlottesville Breaking News

Michael Comer from his days as the president of Glenmore Country Club, left, and after he spent a month on the lam in Nelson County.

FILE PHOTOS

Convicted embezzler Michael Comer stood before a judge today in
federal court for the final sentencing in a string of charges
that came to light when the Glenmore homeowners association
discovered it was missing money–- and its former treasurer.

Kandi Comer, his wife, and her sister, Mo Gaffney, sat in the
back of the courtroom as U.S. District Court Judge Norman Moon
sentenced a gray-striped, prison-garbed Comer to 36 months on tax
fraud and mail fraud charges stemming from embezzlement of Glenmore
Associates, PBK Real Estate, and Kessler Enterprises–- companies
associated with his wife's family.

Comer had already pleaded guilty. Between 2003 and 2009, he
admitted he filed false income tax returns and had $2,548,212 in
unreported, taxable income. He agreed to repay the additional
income tax that's at least $933,028.

Comer's lawyer, Blair Howard from Warrenton, pleaded with the
judge to consider Comer's children and the letters written by his
mother-in-law, Peggy Kessler, and sister-in-law Gaffney, both
victimized by Comer's financial machinations.

"It's true he betrayed his family," acknowledges Howard. "He
used assets to buy a better way of life for his family." That
included private school tuition for his two children.

David Wasserman drew this congressional "incumbent protection " map based on public reporting and hints from sources.

MAP COURTESY DAVE BRADLEE'S REDISTRICTING APP

Every 10 years, Virginia redraws its
congressional districts following the fresh census results.
Cooler heads inevitably call for nonpartisan redistricting, and
accusations of "gerrymandering" inevitably follow the new
districts, always weighted-to-the-party-in-power.

A bipartisan plan has emerged from Virginia's members
in the House of Representatives, Politico
reports, but rather than praising that spirit of cooperation
between Democrats and Republicans, critics are blasting the plan as
"incumbent protection."

The plan was devised primarily by Virginia's eight GOP members,
including the 5th District's freshman Representative Robert Hurt,
and it got the support of the state's three Dem Reps by
strengthening their districts as well, according to
Politico's Richard E. Cohen, who cites multiple sources
from both parties familiar with the plan.

Most eyepopping for voters in the already-gigantic 5th District,
which stretches more than 150 miles from the North Carolina border
to Greene County, is that the district would bloat even farther
north to bisect the state, adding the Republican-leaning Washington
exurb of Warrenton in Fauquier County.

As the criminal trial nears, tallies of suppression costs and
property losses have begun in the so-called
Ragged Mountain Fire, and the price-tag appears to have neared
the quarter-million-dollar mark, including nearly $50,000 to
extinguish the sprawling conflagration. Meanwhile, the late
February blaze scorched 609 acres of terrain, according to an
official with the Virginia Department of Forestry.

"We confirmed it with GPS," says David Powell, an assistant
regional forester, who notes that an earlier estimate of over 800
acres included "initial containment lines" that were wider than
what actually burned.

This fire– which began on a wind-whipped Saturday in a
financially troubled subdivision– cost the Forestry Department
$9,940, a figure that includes only the time and fuel expended for
Department-mustered workers and equipment, not the efforts of the
myriad other fire companies that pitched in.

If the cost– at $16 an acre– seems a little low, indeed it's
less than one quarter of the $72 per acre five-year average the
Department cites.

"We don't bill for investigative time or for education,"
explains Powell, "We only bill for actual time spent putting it
out."

I don’t know why I’ve even bothered telling this story again–
principals, officers, magistrates. They’ve finally given me a
lawyer, but it looks like he’s on their side. Everyone’s on their
side. I never had a chance. That’s how it’s been every day since I
first walked through the doors of that building. No one cared how I
felt, what I was good at. Just follow the rules and do what you’re
told. I wish now that I had done what I really wanted to when I had
the chance. I’m going to end up paying for it anyway. I can’t
believe he’s still talking– I have to interrupt.

“Stop! You have no idea why this happened. I shouldn’t be here.
I know that’s what they all say, but this is different, I swear.” I
don’t know what else to say to him, he doesn’t understand.

“But the gun was in your possession, in your hands, pointed at
him. According to witnesses you had personal problems with him, and
you argued with each other every day.”

I see the contempt in his face when he says this. So I try again
to make him see my side.

“This is all a mistake. I wasn’t going to shoot anyone. It’s
just like every other day; I have no control over what happens in
there. The bell rings and we start, the bell rings and we end. I
can’t even go to the bathroom unless it fits into the schedule, and
this is no different. My side of the story doesn’t matter at
all.”

Second Place winner Joshua Armstrong balances writing his dissertation with his more creative writing endeavors.

Photo by Jen Fariello

Gary Kessler, a retired CIA news agency employee. won high praise from Judge Grisham for "Fire on Ice."

Photo by Jen Fariello

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"I had the twist ending in mind about the teacher," explains
2011 Hook Short Story Contest winner and high school teacher Steven
Turner. "Maybe in some Freudian way, this was a little insight on
the idea of the powerlessness teachers feel sometimes."

To win the acclaim of best-selling author John Grisham, Turner
used unique elements of perspective and plot. So did the other two
winners.

"I like my stories to be about things that aren't quite as they
seem," says third place winner Gary Kessler.

And as it turns out (and as was the case in the 2010 contest
also), two of the three winners let the competition serve as the
springboard for their imagination– writing their very first fiction
specifically for The Hook.

"Charlottesville is for writers," says Kessler– and with the
entries for The Hook's Short Story Contest again at its
highest number ever (150 entries in both 2010 and 2011) he seems to
be absolutely right.

The contest, now in its 10th year, drew participants from all
levels of experience– seasoned writers involved in local writing
clubs, UVA MFA graduates, and first-time fiction writers.

With stories inspired by snowstorms, antique cars, or
relationships, the contest drew on the diverse talents of
Charlottesville's writing community. But the winners circle wowed
the heart of Judge Grisham with sympathetic characters, fast-paced
plots, and innovative narrative techniques.